5 Misconceptions About Airplane Food

Learn to love the food on your flight home for the holiday

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As the holiday season gets closer and closer, if you’re a student far from home, your flight is hopefully booked and ready to go. The only thing standing in the way is finals, right? One thing you probably haven’t though about, however, is the the food on your plane home. If you’re a food-lover, high food quality standards are important high in the sky. Even though airplane food doesn’t have the best reputation, I would argue that it’s just misunderstood. The sooner you learn to love the food on your flight, the easier it will be to get from school to home. We’ll prove you wrong with pictures. Change the way you look at these misconceptions about airplane food:

1. It’s all pre-packaged

While the menu may look a lot like this is the only option, you are not completely limited to food that would probably withstand nuclear radiation. Flights, especially long and international ones, offer a wide variety of fresher foods; this means produce.

Photo by Tochi Mgbenwelu

2. It won’t be photo or Instagram-worthy

This is a very important quality for food to have these days. What better to way to pass the time on a flight than to edit a picture of your food? This is totally possible, I promise. Food presentation is important…even thousands of feet above the ground.

Photo by Tochi Mgbenwelu

Photo by Tochi Mgbenwelu

I beg to differ.

3. They’re out of everything

No promises, but this isn’t always the case. With all the options on the menu, you’re bound to leave happy.

4. There are no healthy options

Given the current emphasis on health and wellness, healthy options have become necessary no matter where you are. Healthy food on planes is a trending topic and there are now options for hummus, whole-grain crackers and even cheese. In fact, carriers like United Airlines now offers boxes with fresh cheese, nuts and dark chocolate. Gourmet is totally possible on an airplane.

5. There won’t be anything I want

Look again. The menu is extensive on many carriers today. Just check out these photos people have posted from the food on their flights.

Obviously, not all airlines will have food as gourmet and beautifully presented as pictures above. Additionally, international flights and first-class are more likely to have these accommodations. But we must stop the airplane food shaming, it’s not all bad! It is possible to get the food that is desirable to you if you make it a priority and keep these misconceptions in mind.